A neural engine is a specialized processor designed to speed up artificial intelligence and machine‑learning tasks, such as image recognition, speech processing, and other pattern‑based computations.
Core idea
A neural engine (often called a neural processing unit, or NPU) is built to perform the kinds of math operations used in neural networks—mainly large numbers of matrix multiplications and convolutions—in parallel and at very high speed. It offloads these tasks from the main CPU and GPU, which makes AI features faster and more power‑efficient on phones, laptops, and other devices.
Apple’s Neural Engine example
Apple popularized the term with its “Neural Engine” blocks inside A‑series and M‑series chips, where they handle things like Face ID, Siri voice recognition, computational photography, and newer “Apple Intelligence” features directly on the device. This on‑device processing improves responsiveness, saves battery, and helps privacy because data (like your face or voice) does not need to be sent to the cloud for many tasks.
